::autumn.light::

the days are still sunny but you can feel the chilly and crisps air and drop in the temperature in the evening, probably morning too but you don't need to leave your house for work (so for now you count that a blessing).

you stopped at five today, try to make the best use of sunshine to refill the borders with more earth and then plant your bulbs.... after an hour of cleaning the weeds, clearing the dried leaves, planting and covering the bulbs, the back garden is done. tomorrow you will work on the front garden...

it's end of september, three quarters of the year are gone now.

sharing.is.caring

some say, sharing is caring. it's certainly true and you're blessed with friends who share their food and garden produce with you.

la pao from a talented artistic desperate housewife who also make the ceramic plates for sales

the chicken curry pao and the yam pao are equally delicious and you've got your next week workday mid afternoon snack taken care off...

a generous bunch of fatty chinese chives from another friend, who mend the house with 3 kids and yet full of energy for gardening, cooking and other hobbies.  thanks to her, you finally had a plate of char kuey theow  and of course never forget your mil who supplies you with the fresh rice stick.
.
honestly speaking, you're still quite dreadful about the start of another week. the thought of monday morning status meeting is just sulking and the fact that you still have a lot of learning curve to overcome. oh well, it's important to be filled with Holy Spirit, slowly and surely you can overcome.

saturday.ladies.lunch

you drove north bound for a lunch appointment. you've heard many good feedback about this eatery. and almost everyone of your fellow home country mates been there and had high praises on the food... so you thought it's worth a try after all!

 the nasi lemak is meh! more like an indonesian nasi rames...the rice has no fragrant of coconut, the garnish that comes with the rice is just not right...

the laksa is alright, it's the version from your home state, so being native you grew up with this flavor.  this would be authentic if taugeh and coriander leaves are added to it.... that said, for most non sarawakian, this bowl is as good as you could get in lowland....

you aren't impressed by the food, but the chatters and the laughter's was fun and the company made imperfect meal, a perfect simple outing...

::thankful::

you manage to cook the bovril oxtail stew last night and also prepare the bread dough last night.  preparation is about everything!

with those extra preparation yesterday evening, you are able to enjoy this loaf o rustic but artisan slow rise no knead bread....

it may not be clear from the photo but you added shredded gouda cheese, lemon thyme and lemon zest to the bread dough and hence it yields a really fresh and complex flavor....you like the savory taste from the cheese, the subtle herb from the thyme and it end with the refreshing sharp lemon freshness yet not over powering....

 you also whisked up a pot of oxtail stew with carrot, potato, a bottle of red wine and a tablespoon of bovril yeast extract.

the bread goes really well with the stew and perfectly soak up the juice, heavenly!

you're so glad it's finally friday, you aren't going to turn on your laptop when you are done with your work today. you worked really hard, long hour and stressed this week.  thankfully the workshop that you delivered yesterday was well received, you don't know how but the spirit of excellence must be upon you that you can accomplished the task. you already expect the worst, but it turned out way better than expected. it's favor of the Lord. and you are thankful.

happy weekends!

::simple::

this is what you eat when time is not on your side.  you had a full day workshop, and another late conference call, still you went out for groceries shopping and by the time you got home, you're tired and you just do a quick stir fried. this is what you had with rice. simple but nutrition as you got the colors and your vegetable intake. all in one plate.
you're relief, the workshop is finally over, but you cannot loose guard for the coming weeks will continue to be a steep learning curve and challenging for you.  you can only take things one at a time.  doing your best and let God do the rest!

treat.or.trick

you are thankful that you're finally above the water today. tomorrow is the day where you have to go in to the client all by yourself and deliver a workshop.
obviously no time to cook nor time to pamper yourself, but here's your trick to treat your sweet tooth. it works for you - dried apricot, dried fig and almonds..
.
have a blessed day!
keeping faith that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you

ten.year.in.holland

 this month marks the 10 year of your journey in your adopted land.  you remembered you arrived this country on the 15th of september 2003 and started working since 1st october 2003.
you just realized how blessed you're in the past 10 years.  unlike many who arrived here without a job and to some finding a job still presents a big challenge to many. for you, it's just an international transfer from your employer in hong kong to lowland. it's more or less the continuation of your working life but with some downgrade of your career. still it didn't take you too long, probably seven months and you are back on track with your career in this new land.

 it hasn't been easy, being an asian, a woman, working in a very masculine environment and where dutch is still not the language you mastered in business context. but you survived, survived well and in fact many people perceived you surpassing most people in the same situation as you.

 just today, as you received your payslip, you noticed there's a fall short of income and you realized the privilege that you've been enjoying has come to an end.  starting from this month, you are no longer an "expatriate" (in the dutch definition) whom enjoys 30 percent tax free on your income.  you're now just a regular dutch resident tax payer, and that means you're now succumb to regular resident tax and that explains the fall short of your income which is quite significant.

it's a mixed feeling... at one hand you're thankful for the past 10 years and yet you feel a little lost of a short fall of income.  you need to get use to the idea that 50 percent of your hard sweat and labor will go to the government.
a quick version of autumn apple tart for tea today, let the sweet and tarty apple to combat the bitter sweet mixed feeling...

:spicy::

you gain back your craving for spicy food again.  perhaps it's the weather, or perhaps it's influence from friends.  you remember you stop chili for quite sometime, not that you dislike them but you can just live without them.  recently, you need chili or something spicy for almost every meal.

the belacan stir fired okra or lady fingers

sichuan style dumpling with chili patse and sichuan pepper

you're totally stressed out last week when you know that the lady who worked with you in the project falls sick and will be taking extended sick leave. you're force to pick up the project by yourself in a very short time. it's not that you're not use to such situation or circumstances but it's another new product that you're suppose to shadow and take over slowly. now the entire project just falls to your shoulder... it's not something that you can easily take over, certainly not when the workshops are line up and you need to deliver them within days.
that said you shared your burden and stress with your care members yesterday and despite of the feeling that you're not in control, you do have the peace and you're calm.  that makes a lot of different. and surely you know that's because prayers have been channeled on your behalf to the heaven.  thank you Jesus, thank you  ladies and love you all!

::lantern::

you notice that the more you're away from your homeland, the more you become observant to the chinese or homeland festive.  you carried a lantern yesterday for the very first time since many many years...

 and you opt for a classic, outdated, traditional paper lantern that need to be lit up with candle

 but prior to that. another round of festive eating with friends where each bring a dish or two....  these are the hot dishes...

 and assorted cold dishes and small bites...

 this year your contribution are mooncakes and these oink oink mooncake cookies....

 while you're busy inside, he escape to the quiet garden and had a nap.....

the kids have their lantern session and you decided to join them too

it's a dry and certainly not a cold day, pleasant for a walk only the sky is still bright!

mid.autumn.celebration

a mid autumn celebration in the haag city.  you went there for a family dim sum lunch but chanced on the chinatown wide celebration.

 the lanterns....

 the dim sum

 the lion dance

 the happening square

all for the celebration of mid autumn, probably the second largest festival in chinese calendar.

farmville.day

today is a bit of farmville day to you.  let alone the crisis at work that you have to take over a project by yourself.  that said, you had a bit of fun regardless of the state of the situation. you've been busy creating some turtles....

 you double the recipe as they're quite a number of kids tomorrow, these edible turtles should satisfy their stomach and curiosity.

 you now have more than 28 turtles running around at home... thankfully they are static, you just need to safe keep them... it's fun playing with yeast dough, you like the kneading part where the dough bounce back to your pressure... it's therapeutic and stress relief, well in a way...

and a batch of mooncake biscuits in piglet shape, these are also for tomorrow mid autumn festival gathering at a friend's house.
happy weekend, you still have a bit to do and you will finish of your work before you call it a weekend!

mid.autumn.festival

明月几时有，把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年.
我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒
起舞弄清影，何似在人间。
　　
转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。
不应有恨，何事长向别时圆。
人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。
但愿人长久，千里共婵娟
——《水调歌头》北宋·苏轼

中秋快乐！happy mid autumn festival if you are celebrating!

here are just some of your mooncakes experience.  a circle of fish! mooncake with fillings

and the mooncake biscuits, a bunch piglets

together with two free hand mooncakes in piglet shape, this make a happy big family

and of course some snow skin mooncakes in small batch... they are good...

you're swap with work, some crisis at workplace that indirectly affected you, so you're keeping this short and hopefully next week will be better.

::harvest::

you cut some spinach and pulled out your radish today.  it's autumn and the days are grey and the rain hardly stops.  you're so not ready for autumn but what can you do... season comes season goes...it's like a wheel of life.

 your spinach are great, this is probably your fourth round of harvest, they are fresh and organic. you just used this to make a quick soup today....

your radish are teeny, they are so tiny and almost uneatable ... you washed them but at the end you threw them away. it's partly your fault that you sowed too many seeds in one spot and there's no room for radish to grow... oh well, next year will be better... and you will probably sow them on the grow....

you had another long day today, but at least you completed your virtual training and tomorrow you're going to the customer to work on something that you haven't master completely. you have tried your best, the rest is up to God and as usual, you know deep in your heart, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

latte.art

lately you're into latte art. barista arts is not easy to master... you have tried on your many cuppas and only lately you're able to create some patterns on your latte.  you're hoping one day you can create any type of pattern as you wish.  but those days are still long to come...

figs.your.way

friend brought along a big bag of figs, you have been munching it fresh, they're fleshy and sweet...

 you eat them raw in your oatmeal porridge with almond nuts...

 you stuffed them with got cheese, wrapped them in parma ham and squeeze a drizzle of honey.  they are really yummy! you wish you have more time to whisk a fig tart or fig pie but you're overwhelmed by your work lately. not that the workload is high, it's just another learning curve that you have to overcome.  so for now, you haven't got that much free time to experiment with figs

 you manage to whisk up a fig almond breakfast cake, using what you have at home the night before.you're so stressed that the only way to find a momentary relief is by getting your hands dirty in the kitchen...

 it's a lovely fig almond cake, simple rustic with a hint of cardamon....

and you're glad that you used up the last few pieces of fig as they are quite perishable.
happy fig day! you wish you'd have constant supply of fig but fig is hard to get by in lowland.
keep this short! till next post!

figgy

a friend dropped by to collect some food and in return she brought you these purple gems...

 fig is one of your favorite fruit but it's so expensive in the supermarket and also hardly accessible in the local weekly market in your area.

she got all this from the big fresh market in the hague... and the figs are big, plumy and juice...

you also had quite a lot of apples that you harvested from your garden awaiting for you to make something out of it....
it's just been busy lately, you are going through another steep learning curve yourself, so less time in the kitchen.  you are hoping the fig will stay fresh a little longer where you can turn them into something beautiful.
you'll see...

hello.little.doraemon

you finally got to visit and carry this little boy. his nick name is "little doraemon".

hiroshima.style.okonomiyaki

a japanese style lunch made by your honey.  it's been awhile....

his interpretation of hiroshima style okonomiyak ( 広島お好み焼き) with the japanese ingredients that we still have at home...

and a quick ebi (prawn) dahsi soup.
a very hearty and heavy lunch... keep you full for the whole afternoon...